Of all the things Los Angeles is known for, it is most well-known as an entertainment hub. Various broadcast, motion picture, and recording studios claim the city as their home, and are continually constructing new facilities and renovating existing spaces to accommodate them.

When constructing a new studio, challenges arise right from the start. Demand for space is high, particularly in Hollywood, Burbank, Culver City, and other media-centric areas. The most sought-after building type for a studio is industrial, such as a warehouse, because they typically offer a “clear span,” providing substantial unobstructed inside heights.

However, the challenge doesn’t end with finding available space in the ideal geographical location. The surrounding tenants and businesses are also crucial to the success of the project. For example, entertainment studios must avoid areas directly adjacent to railroad tracks, busy street traffic, and airports due to the external noise and vibrations. Even “noisy” neighbors should be considered when choosing a space. If sharing a building, any and all adjacent tenants must be mindful of their sound output.

Larger studios often also require specialty lighting systems, so the roof structure of the facility must be designed to support the heavy loads of a grid system. This may include catwalks, lighting fixtures, speakers, electrical equipment, and more. Additionally, in order to accommodate large pieces of equipment, “elephant doors” — tall sound stage doors that often slide or pivot open — are another very important piece of the puzzle for studios. Often, these doors must also be designed to meet certain soundproofing requirements.

Acoustical requirements and accommodations are a primary concern for both new construction and renovations. Whether it is a broadcast, recording, or motion picture studio, each type has a different set of audio requirements depending on what is being produced and the equipment that is used. Sound transmission class (STC) requirements are key to ensuring the studios have the sound separation they need to effectively develop and produce their content.

Walls, windows, flooring, and other items must be designed and selected specifically to meet these STC requirements and minimize sound interference. One of the most common ways to meet these requirements is to create a “room within a room,” or a “box within a box,” where the floor, walls and ceiling are isolated from the main structure, so there is no outside sound transmission or vibration feedback. This method was used during construction of Nickelodeon’s Studio B — a voiceover recording studio — to meet the sound requirements for the voiceover recording studio.

When turning an existing building into a broadcasting space, the walls are often too thin for the necessary sound integrity. The solution may require tearing out walls entirely, but sometimes the problem can be fixed by adding a second wall in front of it or sealing the walls at the ceiling, floor, and around window and door frames. Sealing walls is often overlooked during construction of traditional buildings, and can be a quick fix for improving acoustics on a budget.

Machinery can pose another acoustical challenge. For example, one solution for a noisy HVAC system or mechanical room is relocation. However, when this option is not available, HVAC systems can still achieve satisfactory noise levels in studio and stage settings. For this to happen, air must be introduced at a very low velocity compared to more conventional ventilation and air conditioning systems. Ceiling diffusers and grilles quite often have bulkhead light fittings placed underneath them to prevent the “dumping” of cold air, and to optimize the directivity related to sound level at different frequencies. For the renovation of Westwood One/Cumulus Media’s facility in Culver City, Calif., the HVAC system was installed on a special platform isolating system.

You’ve probably heard of Culver City, Calif., but likely couldn’t place it on a map. It’s another media suburb in the greater Los Angeles area.

Origination point for the 400-station NBC sports network. In the back of the room, the producer’s workspace; in front, the board operator position.

The building was built in the 1920s, according to Cumulus Broadcasting Regional Director of Engineering for the Southwest/West Anthony Vitiello, whose office is located there. It originally served as a Ford and Maserati dealership.That it isn’t well known belies its importance in the country’s media and broadcast landscape, since it’s home to some rather large broadcast institutions (old and new), including Westwood One’s West Coast facility, the subject of our Facility Showcase this month.

“In the rafters, there’s still a Maserati logo up there,” said Vitiello. Brick walls and bow truss roofs were a typical construction style in the early part of the 20th century.

Westwood One bought the three buildings (one of which housed sales and admin personnel, including promotions) in 1990, and they became the headquarters for the national network. In 2003, Westwood One used McCormick Construction of Burbank, Calif., to build out the space. Studios for Metro Traffic were constructed — 28 independent studios for traffic reporters, along with three offices. The master control room was expanded to its current size, as well.

Lobby waiting areas for guests. The NBC Sports network producer work space can also be seen through the window.

As part of the process, the interior of the building was remodeled, and during construction, the staff of Westwood One squeezed into the building across the street, while McCormick Construction had unobstructed reign to build the studios.Metro Traffic was sold and moved out in 2012, and afterward Westwood One ran a split operation between two buildings: One is the current building, and the other is across the street where KABC and KLOS now reside. Once the sale of the land on La Cienega occurred (the former home of the KABC(AM) transmitter, as well as both the KABC and KLOS studios and office) arrangements were made to relocate KABC and KLOS into the Westwood One buildings in Culver City. This is what prompted the latest studio buildout.

Eight studios were built-out during the 2016 remodel: Studio A, for Zach Sang; Studios B&C, which are multipurpose; Studios D&E for the NBC Sports network; studio K, for the “The Big Time with Whitney Allen;” and Studio L, for production. Other studios in the facility were pre-existing from the split building operation.

Staff moved into the newly renovated facility in August of 2016.

STUDIO LINEUPS

The Zach Sang studio in Culver City. Custom furniture designed by Omnirax.

Sierra Automated Systems consoles and a three-frame 32KD router (supporting 1,536 inputs and outputs) make up the heart of the Westwood One west coast facility. On-air playback and automation is based on the ENCO system. All studio PCs, whether for general purposes or ENCO, are connected to the rack rooms via KVM extenders.

Furniture, next to consoles and routers, represents the greatest capital expense in a project like this, and so I asked David Holland of furniture maker Omnirax about their role in the project. He said collaboration with Vitiello was key to the success of the furniture designs.

McCormick Construction has completed renovations of the Westwood One campus in Culver City, California, a 45,000-square-foot radio broadcast facility.

The campus, which is owned by CIM Group, consists of three buildings – two adjacent and one across the street – located at 8935, 8965 and 8944 Lindblade Ave.

Cumulus Media recently acquired Westwood One, which added sports, news, talk, music and programming services enabling Cumulus to provide a wider variety of options to approximately 10,000 US radio stations, in addition to other media and international platforms.

McCormick Construction, who was the general contractor and led the design-build engineering, was charged with renovating and re-configuring the existing radio broadcast facilities to accommodate the additional radio stations and programs Cumulus Media owns, including KLOS, KABC, The Big Time, NBC Sports Radio and Zach Sang and the Gang. This comprised constructing 21 radio broadcast studios with a sound transmission class (STC) rating of 55, with nine of the studios built to include video/television broadcast standards; the installation of 37 private offices, 75 cubicles, conference rooms and new kitchens; upgrading two existing server rooms and adding a new server room; and exterior building modifications.

“It’s been anhonour working on this renovation as we have completed a number of projects for Westwood One in the past,” says Michael McCormick, CEO of McCormick Construction. “We were pleased to be able to assist the client in creating state-of-the-art studios for their employees while creating an optimal listening experience for their consumers.”

“The team at McCormick Construction has a sophisticated understanding of the specific requirements for broadcast and recording studios and has worked with some of the most well-known studios in Los Angeles,” says Eric Wiler, senior vice president, Westwood One. “Through careful planning and phased construction, McCormick Construction ensured we remained fully operational and mitigated disruptions throughout the construction process.”

The facility, which was originally built with brick walls and bow truss roofs for manufacturing users in the 1930s, was first converted into astate-of-the art radio broadcast facility for Westwood One by McCormick Construction in 1984.

With the expansion of its office space, Nickelodeon joins a number of creative companies securing its roots in the Burbank market.

Michael McCormick is the president and CEO of McCormick Construction

LOS ANGELES—Creative companies are committed to the Burbank market. This month alone, Hulu expanded its Burbank office lease to 20, 700 square feet, a lease value of $4.4 million; Pixelogic Media Partners signed a 10-year lease valued at $7.5 million; and now, in the biggest office play, Nickelodeonhas expanded its Burbank office by 110,000 square feet with a new renovation. With more than 200,000 square feet, the network’s West Coast facility has a new 110,000-square-foot, five-story, state-of-the-art animation building; an expansive, redesigned courtyard; and a newly renovated 72,000-square-foot studio, and LEED certification. McCormick Construction constructed the expanded space. To find out about the vision for the expansion and what it is seeing in the Burbank market, we sat down with Michael McCormick, president of the company, for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: What was your vision for this project?

Michael McCormick: McCormick Construction’s vision for the Nickelodeon project was a fast track delivery. The schedule of completion was absolutely critical for Viacom in order to move its animation team into the new space in time for Nickelodeon’s25th anniversary celebration. During preconstruction, McCormick Construction’s goal was to be an integral part of the design process, including providing value-engineering input that did not comprise the design intent of the project.

GlobeSt.com: Have you seen more projects like this in the Burbank market?

McCormick: The Burbank market is an incredibly attractive area for studios and creative office alike, creating a strong demand for available space to develop ground-up office space and renovate existing facilities. With The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., NBC Universal and DreamWorks, there is a healthy demand for companies in the field of special effects, music editing, post-production, studio equipment, and myriad of other providers in the entertainment delivery chain.

While McCormick Construction has completed numerous creative office projects in the Burbank market, this particular project is distinct. The design is unique, especially the extensive use of white cement on the exterior closure. Additionally, the project had to be staged and constructed in order to remain sensitive to ongoing operations throughout the rest of the Nickelodeon campus. By coordinating efforts with the project team, we were able to mitigate noise and other potential disruptions from the heavy equipment on-site.

GlobeSt.com: Why was sustainability important to the project, and how did you achieve LEED certification?

McCormick: Sustainability is an important part of every project McCormick Construction builds. The Nickelodeon project will be LEED Gold. McCormick Construction provided the infrastructure necessary to attain the Gold rating once the interiors are certified. Specifically, the MPE systems and exterior closure were key to getting the overall project certified. Other McCormick Construction sustainable Burbank projects include a 300,000 SF LEED Gold project, and a LEED Silver project under construction.

GlobeSt.com: How is this project indicative of other design trends you are seeing?

McCormick: One of the most prominent trends within the Nickelodeon project, and a huge goal for Nickelodeon, was linking the indoor/outdoor collaboration space to foster creativity for employees. Additionally, the building maximizes natural light and includes multiple outdoor balcony spaces and lush landscaping – all which help elevate the connection to the outdoors, promoting health and wellness. The facility is also located in close proximity to a nearby Metrolink station, which provides additional transportation options to Nickelodeon employees.

The over 200,000-square-foot complex was expanded to inspire and support creativity and collaboration, and create a sustainable work environment for employees

McCormick Construction, a premier builder shaping the culture of buildings and businesses throughout the Western United States since 1914, announced the completion of Nickelodeon’s newly expanded West Coast facility in Burbank, California. The over 200,000-square-foot campus now includes a new 110,000-square-foot, five-story, state-of-the-art animation building; an expansive, redesigned courtyard; and a newly renovated 72,000-square-foot studio that first opened in Burbank in 1998. The campus is home to more than 700 Nickelodeon employees and 20 active show productions.

McCormick Construction’s scope of work included the construction of the core and shell of the animation building; the 151,000-square-foot, five-story, 450-stall parking structure; and a design-build media mesh system on the exterior of the building to display animation.

Nickelodeon’s animation building is targeting LEED Goldcertification, and incorporates a number of sustainable strategies, including reduced lighting power through efficient LED fixtures, lighting controls and use of daylighting. Priority was also placed on the use of healthy and environmentally friendly building materials, such as low-emitting flooring and paint and products with high recycled and regional content. McCormick Construction installed the necessary infrastructure to assist in Nickelodeon’s goal of obtaining LEED Gold certification.

“We are proud to be a part of bringing Nickelodeon’s idea to life,” said Michael McCormick, president and CEO of McCormick Construction. “The newly renovated campus will provide an optimal work environment to inspire Nickelodeon’s employees, while offering the necessary resources to support creativity, collaboration and employee health and wellness.”

The animation building was constructed using the design-assist delivery method, which enabled McCormick Construction to get involved in the project early on to improve constructability, reduce cost and time, and add value. To accomplish these goals, DLR recommended a ConXtech steel framing system – a customizable, modular, prefabricated structural building system – for the building. McCormick Construction assisted in validating the use of the ConXtech system for the project which included a detailed analysis of the overall benefits to the project, which included a shorter lead time on procurement of materials, minimized waste and on-site emissions, a reduced construction timeline and decreased field inspection costs. The exterior of the animation building was built to include architectural white cement, glass fiber-reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels and a high-performance window wall. The precast concrete parking garage is comprised of white cement with an aggregate finish, which mirrors the GFRC finish on the animation building.

Since Nickelodeon’s campus is located in the heart of Burbank, surrounded by tight urban constraints, McCormick Construction streamlined a number of processes which limited the amount of workers simultaneously present on-site, significantly reducing site congestion during the construction process.

Additional features of Nickelodeon’s newly expanded campus include the following:

Additional project team members for the complex included DLR Group, executive architect, which led conceptual planning and building design, city entitlement approvals, construction drawings and construction administration for the core and shell of the project; STUDIOS Architecture, design architect for the new animation building, courtyard and all interiors; Environmental Contracting Corporation, which constructed the interior of the animation building; Brightworks Sustainability, which led the LEED Green Building certification process for the project, working with Nickelodeon and the design team to create a sustainable and healthy work environment; and Accord Interests, LLC, which developed the original and new buildings and will continue to own and manage the complex.

In addition to Nickelodeon’s West Coast facility, McCormick Construction’s recent creative office projects include Element LA, a 12-acre, 300,000-square-foot adaptive reuse campus in Santa Monica, which is fully leased to Riot Games; LINQ, an 80,000-square-foot campus in Redondo Beach, which is leasing space to two major technology clients; and Santa Monica Gateway, a 200,000-square-foot, Class-A creative office project, which is currently under construction in Santa Monica.

Los Angeles is a cultural and entertainment hub. Various broadcast, motion pictures and recording studios claim the city as their home base, so Connect Media caught up with McCormick Construction’s President and CEO Michael McCormick to discuss how the real estate for the music and TV industry differs from the usual office and retail spaces around town.

Q. What are the most sought-after building types and locations for broadcast and recording studio projects?

A. Studios target many different building types; however, the most sought-after types are industrial buildings because of the open interior space within, which gives the studios flexibility to design and construct the space to fit their needs. Additionally, “clear span” – high ceilings and free of columns – makes these building types very attractive. Because of this, many broadcast and recording studios are also adaptive reuse projects.

When it comes to location, Burbank, Culver City and Hollywood are hotspots for studios; therefore, demand for space in these areas is high. But it is not just about finding available space in those areas. It’s also extremely important to think about the surrounding area and external noise, such as nearby train tracks, busy streets and airports.

Q. Why is it so crucial for the project team to meet early on in the development process?

A. These projects require team members with a high-level of expertise and understanding of the industry. Having all of the primary project team members meet early on is very important to make sure that all aspects of the project, and the delivery process, are being appropriately addressed.

Prior to starting work on behalf of Westwood One/Cumulus Media for completion of a three-building recording and broadcast studio campus in Culver City, we met with the architect, subcontractorsand the client at the site to walk through the facility, so the client could show the entire team specifically what they were looking to achieve with the renovations. Throughout the process, McCormick Construction worked closely with the structural engineer and the architect to overcome any project challenges, including how to attach the individual studio ceilings to the existing brick wall to make sure it was aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound, in addition to providing proper sound isolation between the rooms to separate noise.

Q. How do requirements for broadcast and recording studios differ from other commercial spaces?

A. Whether it is a broadcast, recording or motion picture studio, each studio type has a different set of acoustic requirements depending on what is being produced and the equipment that is used. Sound transmission class (STC) requirements are key to ensuring…

Entertainment has long been a jobs driver in Los Angeles, but broadcast and recording studios are seeing construction challenges in this ever-changing industry, Michael McCormick of McCormick Construction says in this EXCLUSIVE interview.

Michael McCormick is the president and CEO of McCormick Construction.

The entertainment industry has long been a driver of jobs in Los Angeles, but changes in technology and the dearth of infill industrial supply is creating new challenges for the development of broadcast and recording studios. Michael McCormick, president and CEO of McCormick Construction, says that location and specific industrial product are the most important characteristics of a redevelopment site, but technology now also plays an integral role. The firm has worked on several broadcast and recording studio projects, including Westwood One/Cumulus Media, broadcast and recording studios for Nickelodeon’s Studio B in Burbank and CBS Radio in Los Angeles. To find out more about this niche of the entertainment industry, how developers today are finding projects in this competitive market and the challenges of building these spaces, we sat down with Michael McCormick for an EXCLUSIVE interview.

GlobeSt.com: With Los Angeles’ high-density market, how are developers finding space for their broadcast and recording studio projects?

Michael McCormick: Demand for space is high, particularly in Hollywood, Burbank, Culver City and other media-centric areas in Los Angeles. Burbank, specifically, has become a hot spot for animation and digital content providers. The most sought-after building type for a studio is industrial, such as a warehouse, because they typically need to provide a “clear span,” be free of columns and have generous inside clear heights. As a result, many studio construction projects are also adaptive reuse projects. Larger studios, especially motion picture studios,

require extensive lighting grids, large, sliding “elephant doors,” and the ability to move bulk materials and large equipment using trucks and lifts.

Location is key. Studios should avoid locations directly adjacent to railroad tracks, busy street traffic or airports due to the external noise and vibrations. However; being in close proximity to transportation hubs can be beneficial.

GlobeSt.com: What are the unique requirements for constructing broadcast and recording studios?

McCormick: Having the proper acoustics is crucial for a studio. McCormick Construction has performed work on various types of studios, but one of our technical specialties is sound transmission class (STC) requirements. Whether it is a recording or broadcast studio or a motion picture studio, each has a different set of requirements due to the sensitivity of the equipment and the content being produced…